Former employees to sue SAS

A group of 300 former cabin attendants have been approved by Copenhagen City Court to bring a class action lawsuit against SAS on charges that their former employer illegally reduced their pensions three years ago.

The group indicated that SAS failed to live up to a binding responsibility to make pre-agreed monthly payments into the pensions of its former employees.

On average, each of the employees has lost 25,000 kroner in pension, a total of 7.5 million kroner.

Fonden Live, the organisation representing the group, said it is basing its case on documents allegedly showing that SAS gave a binding pledge about pension sizes and annual adjustments.

Per Espersen, the chairman of Fonden Live, believes that even more former SAS cabin attendants will join the case now that it has been cleared to go forward. However, people considering joining must do so before the deadline on December 14.

Hanne Magnussen, from the law firm Mazati-Andersen, Korsø Jensen and Partners, will head the case for the former employees, while SAS has until December 5 to respond to the summons.

The case started rolling in the spring of 2011 when seven former heads of the Cabin Attendants Union (CAU) began going through agreements, accounts and laws as part of a review of members' pensions. The group identified serious errors by SAS.

The pension case comes hot on the heels of a hectic period for SAS, as current employees have had to agree to wage reductions as well as increased working hours in order to save the airline from going bust.

Fonden Live expects that the courts will take more than a year to find a verdict in the case.